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wnere  are  you  g 
Conf  Pam  l2mo  #581 


No.  48 

WHERE  ARE  YOU  GOING  ? 


One  Sabbath  evening,  jutf  before  the  hour  for  the  closing 
religious  service  of  the  day,  a  group  of  young  men  had  come 
together  on  a  corner  of  the  city  streets.  Their  hearts  were 
intent  upon  what  they  called  "  having  a  good  time.  And  as 
those  passed  by  who  regarded  the  Sabbath  as  a  day  ot  peace, 
of  Christian  works  and  worship,  and  who  were  on  their  way 
to  the  place  of  prayer,  the  question  was  heard  proposed  m 
that  group,  ''Where  are  you  going?"  It  was  to  decide  in 
what  place  of  amusement  or  dissipation  the  evening  ot  the 
Sabbath  should  be  spent,  and  those  young  men  answered  it  in 
a  manner  to  suit  their  purpose:  but  it  is  also  a  question  tulJ 
of  interest  to  us  all,  and  one  which,  if  truly  answered,  will  in- 
dicate our  destiny  for  eternity.    '  , 

We  are  all  going,  as  fast  as  time  can  carry  us,  into  the  future, 
to  us  unknown ;  but  there  are  some  for  whom  this  inquiry 
points  with  fearful  significance  toward  that  future.  Dear 
reader,  how  is  it  with  you? 

We  will  suppose  you  have  never  yet  attended  to  the  con- 
cerns of  your  soul ;  "that  you  have  cared  for  none  of  these 
things.  'How  then  shall  this  question  be  answered  so  as  to 
meet  your  case  ?  Where  are  you  going?  May  eternal  truth  ( 
be  impressed  upon  your  heart  as  it  never  yet  has  been,  while 
we  answer  for  you  as  for  one  who  must  give  account  at  last. 

1.  You  are  going  to  the  grave.  Have  you  ever  seriously 
thought  of  this?  Man  of  business,  while  buried  as  you  are 
in  the  cares  of  this  world,  —  while  so  eagerly  striving  for 
gold,— have  you  ever  stopped  to  reflect,  "  Though  I  am  doing 
my  own  will  and  seeking  my  own  profit  now,  and  putting  tar 
from  me  thoughts  of  dying,  yet  there  is  a  grave  m  my  path, 


and  my  nest  step  may  be  into  it?"  Man  of  pleasure,  have 
you  ever  thought  of  this  ?  While  seeking  happiness  in  dissi- 
pation, in  all  the  vain  things  which  belong  to  this  life  only,  do 
you  ever  think  of  a  time,  which  will  surely  come,  when  you 
shall  say,  "I  can  enjoy  these  things  no  more  ;  I  am  about  to 
lie  down  in  the  grave?"  Impenitent,  thoughtless  man,  old  or 
young,  whoever  you  may  be,  whose  supreme  love  and  desires 
are  limited  to  this*life,  does  the  thought  ever  enter  your  mind, 
"  The  grave  is  before  me  ;  every  day  brings  me  nearer  to  it ; 
there  my  worldly  pleasures  will  be  ended  ~?" 

But  your  acknowledgement  that  this  is  true  is  not  a  full  an- 
swer to  our  question.  Y.ou  admit  that  your  body  will  soon  be 
in  the  grave;  but  will  you  rest  there  ?  Where  are  you  going 
then  ? 

2.  You  are  going  to  the  judgmerh.  Open  the  word  of  God, 
and  in  the  light  that  beams  from  the  sacred  page  into  the  fu- 
ture, look  upon  that  solemn  scene.  Imagine  yourself  there. 
You  are  no  uninterested  spectator.  You  are  the  prisoner  at 
the  bar.  Look  up  and  see  upon  the  great  white  throne,  Him 
who  was  once  crucified  for  you  ;  who  loved  you  with  a  bound- 
less love;  who  graciously  invited  you,  urged  you  to  come  to 
him  and  be  forgiven  and  saved.  Now,  he  is  your  judge.  Oh, 
hoW  gladly  you  would  see  rocks  and  mountains  falling  upon 
you  to  hide  you  from  his  face!  But  you  must  await  your 
sentence  here. 

Once  you  were  in  a  world  where  pardon  and  peace  were  freely 
offered  to  you  in  the  gospel.  There  you  became  familiar  with 
the  story  of  the  cross,  and  while  you  saw  others  penitently 
going  to  Christ,  confessing  their  sins  and  finding  mercy,  you 
turned  away  and  hardened  your  heart. 

You  cannot  say  with  truth,  "  While  there  was  a  possibility 
of  my  salvation,  '  no  man  cared  for  my  soul/  "  You  were 
often  warned  of  your  danger.  Many  prayers  were  offered  for 
you,  and  you  were  entreated  to  inake  your  peace  with  God. 
All  the  efforts  of  those  who  loved  your -soul  were  unavailing. 
The  Holy  Spirit  pleaded  with  your  heart.  You  would  not 
listen,  and  at  length  He  was  grieved  away  for  ever. 

Therefore  do  you  stand  here  self-condemned.  You  are  able 
now  to  comprehend  the  awful  meaning  of  the  words  which 
once  you  read  so  thoughtlessly,  and  n<yw  you  make  personal 


application  of  them  ;  thoy  seem  addressed  to  yourself  alone  : 
"  Because  I  have  called,  and  ye  refused  ;  I  have  stretched  out. 
my  hand,  and  no  man  regarded ;  but  ye  have  set  at  naught 
all  my  counsel,  and  would  none  of  my  reproof;  I  also  will 
laugh  at  your  calamity  ;  I  will  mock  when  your  fear  cometh  : 
when  your  fear  cometh  ae  desolation,  and  your  destruction 
cometh  as  a  whirldwind  ;  when  distress  and  anguish  cometh 
upon  you."     Prov.  1 :  24-27. 

Listen  to  your*  sentence,  already  prenouueed  against  you  by 
your  own   conscience — Depart.     But  tohere,   reader?     Whafc 
shall  be  the  end  of  this  sad  journey  ?  for  that  has  not  yet  been 
reached.     The  sentence  sends  you  further  on.      Where  arc  you 
going  now  ? 

3.  From  the  very  gate  of  heaven  you  are  going  away  into 
despair.  No  more  shall  you  hear  the  precious  words  of  pro- 
mise to  the  penitent.  No  more  will  Christ  invite,  or  his  faith- 
ful ministers  warn,  or  Christians  pray.  You  have  at  latt 
reached  your  journey's  end.*  You  have  found  your  own  place, 
and  in  it  you  will  spend  eternity. 

Reader,  as  you  contemplate  such  an  answer  to  the  question 
we  have  started,  are  you  not  constrained  to  cry  out,  with 
thanks  to  GTod  that  you  are  yet  in  a  world  of  probation  ;  that 
the  truth  of  our  answer  has  not  yet  been  verified  by  your 
bitter  experience  ;  that  you  can  pray,  with  the  assurance  that 
the  prayer  of  the  broken  and  contrite  heart  shall  be  heard  ? 
Are  you  not  constrained  to  cry  for  mercy  to  that  Saviour  whom 
you  have  so  long  rejected  ;  who  has  been  knocking  at  the  door 
of  your  heart  so  long,  and  who  is  still  waiting  to  be  gracious? 
Once  more  you  are  reminded,  earnestly  and  affectionately,  of 
your  duty,  and  warned  of  your  danger.  Once  more  you  are 
invited  to  come  to  the  "  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the 
sin  of  the  world,"  and  be  relieved  of  the  burden  of  your  own 
sin,  and  receive  the  peace  which  is  not  of  this  world.  To  eve- 
ry soul  there  is  a  last  time  for  all  such  offers  and  invitations. 
As  you  read,  remember  that  this  may  be  the  last  warning 
which  shall  ever  meet  your  eye.  You  are  moving  forward  in 
the  path  already  indicated,  the  end  of  which  is  so  appalling, 
whether  you  are  conscious  of  it  or  not. 

Awake,  then,  from  this  fearful  state,  before  it  becomes  a 
sleep  of  death  !  No  longer  put  off  the  care  of  your  immortal 


y?, 

IZ' 

$5 


soul.  Listen  to  the  words  of  Jesus — "  Him  that  cometh  unto 
ine  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out ;"  and  as  you  hear,  make  haste 
to  come. 

Then  shall  your  answer  to  our  inquiry  be,  "  I  am  going  for- 
ward in  the  path  of  duty  as  my  Father  shall  reveal  it  while  I 
live,  humbly  trusting  in  my  Kedeemer  \  and  then  I  am  going 
according  to  his  promise,  to  enter  upon  the  inheritance  which 
he  has  purchased  for  me  with  his  precious  blood— an  inheri- 
tance '  incorruptible,  undefiled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away/  u 


ORIGINAL  HYMN.     . 

BY    REV.  J."'**.  -MARTIN. 

Ye  guilty  sinners,  turn, 

The  downward  road  forsake  : 

Lest  you  in  hell  forever  burn, 
That  fiery,  dreadful  lake. 

In  vain  shall  you  implore 
Your  Maker's  favor  there ; 

He'll  close  against  you  mercy's  door, 
And  leave  you  to  despair. 


Now  is  th'  accepted  day, 

Salvation's  offered  now : 
Then  come  to  Christ,  without  delay, 

And  to  his  Sceptre  bow. 

Your  sins  will  be  forgiven, 
Your  stains  be  washed  away  ; 

And  you'll  be  made  the  heirs  of  heaven,- 
Then  come,  without  delay. 


Hollinger  Corp. 
PH8.5 


